e Court, his
hopes extinguished and plunged into the lowest depths of despair.

With him was his son who was now old enough to accompany him in his
wanderings. Together they passed a monastery called La Rabida where
Columbus paused to beg a mouthful of bread and a drink of water for his
boy,--and here there came an absolute change in his fortunes, for here
there dwelt a friar who had formerly been confessor to Queen Isabella
with whom he still had a great deal of influence; and after going over
Columbus' plans with a shipbuilder named Martin Pinzon and an
astronomer named Hernandez, the good friar promised to ask the Queen to
grant Columbus' request. At all speed he went to the Spanish Court and
brought back word that Columbus was to receive another interview with
the Queen, with the additional good news that he was to be of good
heart in the meantime, for his request was to be granted. And Queen
Isabella also sent Columbus a sum of money with which to buy decent
raiment and pay his expenses in coming back to the Court.

In this way it befell that, after weary years of waiting, the great
idea of Columbus was finally received, and he was allowed to set out on
his wonderful voyage; and he was so sure of success that he almost
seemed to see the new lands that lay thousands of miles across the Sea
of Darkness.

Columbus went back to Court and made certain demands of King Ferdinand
and Queen Isabella that they finally consented to--namely that he was
to be the "Admiral of the Ocean Sea"--for so he called the
Atlantic--and should rule over all new lands that he discovered. One
tenth of all future profits from these lands were to be his, and he
alone should have the right to settle trade disputes that might arise.
In addition to these things he was to receive one-eighth of the profit
of his first voyage, as he was willing, and in fact his agreement with
the Queen demanded, that he should pay one-eighth of the expenses of
the venture.

Once the consent of the King and Queen had been given and the money
provided, Columbus set about collecting his vessels and their crews.
This last, however, was a difficult undertaking, for so many and
terrible were the stories about the Sea of Darkness and the monsters
that lived near the far edge of the world that the boldest mariners
refused to venture with him on such an errand, and finally his crew was
gathered by proclaiming in the jails that any criminal who accompanied
him was to rec